So, last week, the meat, all heckabuncha pounds of it, in the freezer thawed out, so I had to cook it. That means, this week I am using it up. Today’s culinary expression is a tasty summer chicken salad called Laab Gai,or… Salad, Chicken. Thai style. I started making this several years ago, after eating it at a wonderful hole-in-the-wall Thai place in Atlanta called Zab-E-Lee. Here’s the recipe.

Sticky Rice (also called sweet rice-look for it in the Asian food section, or at an Asian market)
1 cup rice makes 3 servings
Put the rice in a pot, and add enough cold water to submerge the rice by an inch or more.
Soak for at least 3 hours. Longer is fine.
Drain the rice into a metal colander that will fit down into a pot. Put a couple of inches of water in the pot, put the lid on it, and steam the rice for about 45 minutes, checking after 30 mins to see if it’s done. It will be translucent and the grains will stick to each other without being mushy.

To eat the chicken salad, I like to take a little ball of rice, a wad of chicken salad, a few chunks of a jad, and wrap it in a cabbage leaf. Yum.

Next time you have a watermelon, take the leftover bits and freeze them. Then, next time you make up a pitcher of lemonade (your favorite kind), whiz it up in a blender with some of the frozen watermelon. The more melon you use, the slushier the drink. So tasty!